Thursday, June 8, 2017

Elven Revolvers

Gunpowder was discovered a long time ago in Centerra. It just doesn't work anymore.

When they were taming the land and laying straight roads, they were also fighting the fire cults. They won, as they always do, and the fire gods were sundered. Some were gelded and boxed. Some were driven into the sea and quenched.

You can still see some of them from the Victorious Coast. Time and tempest have worn away some of their features, and only blasphemers claim that they are merely offshore rocks.

It was around that time when gun powder stopped working.

<sidebar> The only survivor of that is Lady Hellfire, the only volcano on Centerra. Where fire and stone failed, paper prevailed, and she now existson the but should the treaty ever be declared void, it is likely that the last volcano on Centerra will cool. </sidebar>

not ornate enough

Elven Revolvers

Elves are loathe to ever give something up once it has been claimed. The same is true for their firearms.

And so while the other races were cussing and melting down their cannons, the elves were figuring out ways to retrofit their pistols.

Elven pistols are baroque and highly personalized. Each one is unique piece of art, and is worth a fortune to a historian. They're also very functional--elven goods rarely break.

The pistol known as Charge Onwards Brave Horse bears only the slightest resemblance to a horse. Mithril is used for the reinforced parts, but most of the rest of the gun is alchemically strengthened glass, stained a pale blue color. It gives you +4 to hit.

One DM to another: I think guns are cooler than wands. And anyone can use them. I plan to give them out in place of wands whenever possible.

Elven Ammunition

In the absence of gunpowder, the elves were forced to find new propellants for their guns. It was a welcome diversion, after the wars. Like the guns, each part of the cartridge appears to be handcrafted.

We're still not sure what they used, but it is highly magical. The ammunition is sorted into categories based on the shape of the shell and the type of note produced upon firing. Note: while there are several variations of the "circle of dancers" cartridge, this one is the most common.

Casing: painted circle of dancers, tossing rose petals

Firing: brass horn chord, G# major

Effect: deep punctures that billow white smoke

Mechanics: 3d6 damage

Casing: engraved elephant, flayed

Firing: Harsh guitar strum, ascending, C#

Effect: Incandescent bullet burns path into retina for a few minutes

Mechanics: 2d6 corporeal damage, 2d6 incorporeal damage (actually fires two bullets, one ethereal and one material; enemies that can affect both are struck by both)

Casing: sculpted songbirds erupting from a mouth

Firing: clashing cymbals

Effect: Shooter appears to turn into gunsmoke, then dissipate

Mechanics: 2d6 damage and teleports you adjacent to your target (shooters also holding a rapier and trained in elven teleplay can make a free attack)

Elven ammunition is only ever found in dungeons or looted from elf lords, and only then in small amounts (1d6, maybe 2d6). Its manufacture is an utter enigma.

5 comments:

As long as a gun is no more powerful than a crossbow, there's no game mechanical reason not to have them. If you are playing pirates or thirty years' war, pistols and long guns make sense. Cannon even earlier - like 1300 maybe